Read my other articles on puzzles for special needs kids:
Coordination and Discrimination
Do you remember having a puzzle set up on a table when you were growing up? Many families view puzzles as ongoing family entertainment for the winter months. Let's look at the benefits of puzzles for children with medical, behavioral, and emotional challenges.
Which children benefit from puzzles? Really ALL children benefit from puzzles. Often children with special needs are concentrating on building skills listed below. Child pay becomes a special needs child's work so puzzles are especially good options on a hot summer day.
What skills are enhanced by working puzzles?
- Cognitive skills of problem solving, reasoning, seeing whole-part relationships
- Fine motor skills: picking up and grasping pieces, development of the pincher grasp
- Hand-eye coordination: placing piece in the puzzle, manipulating it so see if it fits
- Social skills: asking for a particular piece to be passed to them, sharing the task of completing the puzzle with others, handling frustration when a piece does not work, self-control to leave the puzzle alone between working on it
You may be thinking that puzzles are too difficult for your child. Consider the types of puzzles below:
Number of Pieces Some puzzles have only ONE piece! These are puzzles for beginners with physical or mental challenges. Of course, puzzles vary greatly in complexity.
- 1-4 piece puzzles made of a wooden or cardboard tray
- 12, 24, 36, 100 piece puzzles
- Large number, 3-d puzzles
Puzzle Construction
- Foam
- Cardboard (traditional or heavyweight)
- Wooden
- Pieces with pegs or knobs for easy grasp
- Textured pieces
- Scented pieces
Types of Puzzles
- Infant's plastic shape sorters
- Cut out puzzles of foam, cardboard, or wood
- Tray puzzles with outline of pieces or picture of pieces on the tray
- Floor puzzles
- Traditional puzzles
Watch for puzzles with additional value!
- ABC practice
- Numbers
- Categories: farm animals, transportation, etc.
- Shapes
Consider having a designated place to work on puzzles such as a table that will not have to be cleared off at meal time. Children will learn responsibility of keeping the pieces in that place, tolerance to leave the puzzle intact between sittings, and independence to be able to add to the puzzle when opportunity allows.
My next article is Building Hand-eye Coordination and Thinking Skills with Paper Pencil Puzzles
